Challenge
Since 2017, Monzo has partnered with Stripe to give retail customers the added option of making deposits through debit card transactions, using Stripe Payments to support this functionality and further strengthen its efforts to identify and reduce fraud via Stripe Radar.
With the launch of Monzo Business in 2020, the partnership expanded to include a Stripe Connect integration, providing a streamlined way for businesses to open a new Stripe account, link it to Monzo, and begin accepting card payments from their own customers within their existing business account.
“We’re a customer-first organisation, and we were hearing through interviews and feedback that our customers wanted more options for in-person transactions,” said Scott Thomson, engineering manager at Monzo. “Smaller and newer businesses especially were looking to diversify their payment channels, but weren’t ready to commit to a solution that might come with additional costs, such as hardware or subscriptions.”
Solution
While Monzo considered ways to embed more payment options into its product suite, Stripe was planning to launch Tap to Pay on iPhone—Apple’s contactless payment acceptance solution that’s easy to integrate using Stripe Terminal—in the UK. With its tech-forward business model and already strong partnership with Stripe, Monzo was a natural choice for a launch partner.
Tap to Pay on iPhone allowed Monzo’s small business customers to accept contactless payments directly on their iPhones—from physical debit and credit cards, Apple Pay, and other digital wallets—no extra hardware needed.
Working closely with Stripe, Monzo’s engineers integrated the Tap to Pay on iPhone functionality into their existing ecosystem. To raise awareness among its businesses, Monzo promoted the launch through push notifications, in-app carousels, onboarding journeys, and a dedicated web page.
Results
Tap to Pay on iPhone makes Monzo a consolidated financial toolbox for easy payment acceptance
The addition of Tap to Pay on iPhone has furthered Monzo’s mission to make life easier for small businesses and their customers. “At Monzo Business, we’re bringing all the financial tools in one place, empowering business owners to spend less time on admin and more time growing their business,” said Thomson. “Introducing Tap to Pay on iPhone with Stripe took it one step further. Business owners can open a Monzo Business account, and within minutes, can start accepting contactless payments right on their iPhone—no extra hardware, no extra hassle.”
88% year-over-year growth in user adoption highlights value for small businesses
Since its launch in October 2023, Monzo customer adoption has grown 88% year over year for Tap to Pay on iPhone. “We have highly engaged customers, and they told us they wanted this feature, so we delivered,” said Thomson.
The ability to accept contactless payments has been especially valuable for the smallest businesses served by Monzo—those with three or fewer employees—and for new enterprises, which can easily and quickly get started with Tap to Pay on iPhone using the Monzo app. Service-oriented businesses have seen the highest adoption rates among Monzo’s businesses. Monzo’s top three verticals using Tap to Pay on iPhone are health and wellness, home improvement and maintenance, and retail.
Built-in security of iPhone helps Monzo attract new customers
Tap to Pay on iPhone has become a strong selling point for Monzo in marketing to B2C businesses, enabling business owners and entrepreneurs to get paid anywhere without the need to buy, set up, or manage dedicated card readers.
From a security perspective, Tap to Pay on iPhone uses the built-in security and privacy features of iPhone to help protect business and customer data. Apple doesn’t store card numbers on Apple servers, so businesses and customers can rest assured that their data stays theirs.**
“We’ve removed a barrier to entry for small enterprises that weren’t able to take in-person payments in the past, since nearly everyone has a mobile phone and using Tap to Pay on iPhone requires very little commitment,” said Thomson.
With Tap to Pay on iPhone, we’re able to better serve small businesses and solopreneurs by giving them the capability to take in-person payments conveniently—without having to send an invoice or payment link. We see that as a huge success.
*Encrypted card numbers are temporarily stored on iPhone only for transactions made in Store and Forward mode.
**According to an independent survey of 19,400 customers of the 16 largest business current account providers in Great Britain between January 2024 and December 2024 by BVA BDRC for overall service quality and an independent survey of 18,000 customers of the 15 largest business current account providers in Great Britain between January 2023 and December 2023 by BVA BDRC for overall service quality.
